Con arguments

"I see in the not remote distance one great nationality bound like the shield of Achilles, by the blue rim of ocean ... I see within the ground of that shield the peaks of the western mountains and the crests of the eastern waves." - Thomas D'Arcy McGee, 1860

"Very blind are those who speak of the creation of a new nationality, strong and harmonious, on the northern bank of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, and who are unaware of or denounce the major and providential fact that this nationality is already very well formed, that it is great, and growing unceasingly; that it cannot be confined to its current limits; that it has an irresistible force of expansion; that in the future it will be more and more made up of immigrants coming from all the countries in the world, no longer only from Europe, but soon from Asia, whose overpopulation is five times more numerous [than that of Europe] and no longer has any other outfall than America; composed, says I, of all races of men, who, with their thousand religious beliefs, large mix of errors and truths, are all pushed by the Providence towards this common rendez-vous that will melt in unity and fraternity all of the human family." -- Louis-Joseph Papineau, 1867

Government of Canada

From United Empire, to United Dominion, to United Canada.

Not only is the federal government denying the very existence of the Québec political nation since 1867, it is also shamelessly using Quebecers' own tax money 1) to finance its coast-to-coast nation-building project and 2) to fight Quebecers' conflicting national aspirations. According to the adversaries of independence, the Quebec polity, whose origin goes back to at least 1663 when it became a royal province of the Kingdom of France, would be destined to remain the province of another State forever, yesterday France and Great Britain, today federal Canada.

Operation Dialogue, a dialogue excluding those heretics who want to modify the constitution of Canada... linked to the Dominion Institute again

$$ = Funded by the Government of Canada, therefore in part by Quebecers' own tax money

Québec Bashing

Failing to come up with valid arguments to counter those put forward by the secessionists, some influential factions in the Unionist camp have adopted the good old strategy of misrepresenting their adversaries' arguments and intentions to better win against them. The arguments of the right to self-determination and cultural rights of peoples being particularly hard to refute, they have chosen to work around them and refute other arguments instead. How hard is it to refute invalid arguments that you have crafted yourself?

Techniques

Political warfare, in its modern incarnation, still uses the same old tricks...

Note: Mordecai Richler is also the author of excellent fiction works unlike the others.

Late denunciation and response

Many of us didn't fail to notice it. The constant depiction of Quebec nationalists, sovereignists, francophones in general, or even all Quebecers, as morally inferior to Canadians, incapable of governing themselves, less progressive and liberal, responsible for Canada's problems, is fundamentally the same process that was used to spread hatred of the Jews in 19th and 20th century Europe.

"Some Racist Slips about Quebec in English Canada Between 1995 and 1998" by Maryse Potvin in Canadian Ethnic Studies, volume XXXII, issue 2, 2000, pages 1-26

Legitimate and valid objections?

Are there legitimate and valid objections to the independence of Québec? Of course, in theory. These objections were mostly formulated by Québec nationalists themselves. Indeed, in the decades old dialogue between nationalists wishing to reform the constitution of Canada and those who have opted for secession, we believe that all important questions were properly addressed. In the end it becomes a question of self-confidence, self-respect and values.

Human dignity is the key word.

Visitors searching for answers to valid and reasoned objections should be able to find what they are looking for here: